Tuesday, July 28, 2009

It's almost exactly 2 years to the day since I moved to San Francisco. Jeff and I just came back from our epic Euro Trip and my luggage was delayed at JFK. I had no clothes and had to buy a t-shirt at the airport souvenir shop. I still had an apartment in Berkeley at the time, but we already signed the lease for our place in SF before we left a month earlier. But since my key was in the luggage that didn't make it, I had to crash on the couch in our new apartment on Van Ness Avenue.

That was two years ago. Memories likes to play funny tricks with the mind. I could remember some things vividly, yet it all seems so distant.

I was just starting my first full time job and still had a Master's project to submit. It felt very different, not being a student anymore. The funny thing is I had no idea what my future held in store for me. I was so different then. Insecure, both financially and emotionally. A little dumb and a lot unwise. I seemed to be okay playing the same game everyone else was playing.

Then, life happened. Someone hit the fast forward button. Was I ready for it? No, absolutely not. But it happened anyways.

Quitting my job and starting our first company together was probably a very stupid thing to do. I was so naive. All we had was a grand idea, a fuzzy path for getting there, and an unshakeable belief in our ability to execute. We didn't think it was going to be easy, but hell, we had no idea it was going to be that hard. Had I known all the obstacles, would I have started?

And that is one secret to be an entrepreneur: dare to be stupid. When Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard in his sophomore year, it was probably a stupid idea at the time. The important thing was to take that leap; and that leap is almost always a little stupid. Smart people doing stupid things and somehow wonderful things happen.

That is how it all started.

The unfortunate side-effect is that I never quite got to live in San Francisco. My physical body is here, but only to shuttle myself from home to work and back home again. One of these days, I'll really live in San Francisco. Maybe I'll throw a party to celebrate that occasion...